Socialis Amor
by Kirii
Summary: In an attempt to unite the camps, the gods call for a marriage between one Roman and one Greek. When Percy and Reyna are declared to be wed, neither of them are exactly thrilled, but given time, they discover a connection between them and learn that love is not a destination, but a journey. [Percy/Reyna, mentions of other pairings]


**Author's Note: **This has actually been bouncing around in my head for a while, but it's only now decided it was going to be a fanfic. This will probably be updated between _Shades _updates, so it'll be sporadic, but hopefully, it'll get finished. Cedar will never forgive me if I don't get plenty far in it, at any rate. Also, kind of sort a collab between Cedar and myself, because she's been helping me plot the details since the beginning.

**Disclaimer:** I own only the ideas in my head and a couple of the mentioned background OCs. Everything else belongs to Riordan, no matter how good of a Hermes kid I am.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Tensions were running high at Camp Half-Blood and, for once, it wasn't because of an impending battle. The fighting seemed to be over now, with Gaea defeated, the Athena Parthenos restored, and the two camps now working together, attempting to mend the rift between their societies. Representatives from each camp had swapped places, the Greeks learning about the Romans and vice versa, for a week, a month, or longer. Among those representatives were Reyna, Octavian, and Dakota.

Reyna had left her new partner, a young man named Marcus, in charge of Camp Jupiter while she was away, and had all but forced Octavian to come – unwilling to let him out from under her supervision; she hoped that serving as a representative would teach him something. Dakota had volunteered to come along, hearing that his father was at Camp Half-Blood and that he had a younger half-brother there.

Jason and Hazel had both elected to stay at Camp Half-Blood as well, wanting to be close to their friends. Frank had sacrificed himself to close the Doors of Death, leaving young Hazel devastated and the only ones who could cheer her up were her friends, the other five surviving heroes who had defeated Gaea, and her brother. She seemed to be on a slow recovery from the blow of her boyfriend's death, if the occasional smile was anything to judge by.

A total of twenty Romans had come to Camp Half-Blood, many of them the same Romans who had come to attack not all that long ago. Though the battle had ended with minimal casualties on either side, the fact that they were there did not sit well with some of the Greeks. Reyna had no doubt that the Greeks that had gone to Camp Jupiter – among them, Leo, Annabeth, and Clarisse – were having just as much difficulty amongst the Romans. She'd told Marcus to keep things under control and she trusted Annabeth to help him do just that, but every day, she half-expected a message from him asking her to return.

It had been nearly three weeks since the representatives had switched places and there was little progress in uniting. The two camps had worked together best in the final fight against the giants that had attacked Camp Half-Blood in the middle of the battle between the camps. Now, it seemed, the camps worked together only during the Capture the Flag games on Fridays. The rest of the time, minor skirmishes between Greeks and Romans had to be broken up.

Something needed to be done.

* * *

It was Thursday and the demigods at Camp Half-Blood were beginning to relax again. Tomorrow, they'd ease the tension during the weekly Capture the Flag game. In the mean time, they'd save their energy for it. A few of the Romans had already started to devise new plans, using tactics from their war games to their advantage against the Greeks. Octavian was already proudly proclaiming that the Romans would crush the Greeks.

"Doesn't he ever get bored of doing that?" Piper asked, sprawled on her stomach with her feet in the air behind her as she plucked at the grass underneath her, her eyes on the augur.

"Who, Octavian?" Jason arched a brow from where he sat next to Piper. "Nah. He's been like that since he was twelve, when he was first made augur. He's not gonna find it boring any time soon."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Figures." Jason had told her what Octavian had been like before, when the two of them had been friends. Though he hadn't told her what had made the other boy change, she figured it had to do with the power Octavian had gained. Heaving a sigh, the daughter of Aphrodite rolled onto her back, looking up at the bright, clear blue sky. "He's just going to make things worse. Why is he even here?"

"Do you really think it would have been a good idea to let him stay at Camp Jupiter, where he could rally hundreds of legionnaires against the Greek reps?" Jason knew Reyna had insisted that Octavian come to Camp Half-Blood to keep him from doing just that. It was a good move on her part, even if it meant dealing with Octavian instigation feuds here. "At least if he's here, he's outnumbered and nowhere near as bold as he'd be back home."

Piper bit her lip, hearing the way Jason said the word 'home'; it was a subtle, but clear reminder that Jason wasn't staying at Camp Half-Blood permanently. He'd told her that he would stay with her, leave Camp Jupiter to be with her, but in the end, had admitted that he couldn't do that, after all. Camp Jupiter was ultimately his home and he had his loyalties. They'd reached an agreement, though, that Jason would come to Camp Half-Blood as a representative for a couple of months, then Piper would go to Camp Jupiter as a representative. It wasn't entirely what Piper had wanted, but what she'd settled for.

At least they'd be together.

"He's still not helping matters," she said, turning her mind back to the present conversation. Octavian, whether he was tamer here than he'd be at Camp Jupiter, was still causing difficulties. They were never going to get the camps fully united if he kept this up. "Can't you do something about him?"

Jason shook his head. "I'm not a praetor anymore." Reyna had stripped both Jason and Percy of their titles as praetors after they'd fled New Rome and would not re-instate either of them. She'd appointed Marcus as praetor, more or less, to keep Octavian from snatching the position. "As he'd love to crow over my head if I tried to do something about him."

Piper wrinkled her nose. "Can't I charmspeak him again? That worked so well before."

A small smile crossed Jason's lips, tugging at his little scar. "It would only fuel his rallies." He leaned over and kissed Piper's forehead. "Let it go for now. We'll show him during the game tomorrow who'll really be victorious."

Piper gave a smile of her own. They'd definitely take Octavian down a peg or two tomorrow. Maybe once that happened, the number of fights during the rest of the week would go down.

* * *

"Canceling the game won't solve anything," Reyna told Percy. The two of them, as camp leaders, had been trying to figure out a way to get their respective camp members to sort out their differences. Percy's suggestion, reluctant as it was because he enjoyed Capture the Flag as much as the next person, was no good. "We take away their outlet, we'll just have more fights on our hands. We need to come up with something that will bring our camps together."

"What do you suggest, then?" Percy asked. He wished Annabeth was there, instead of at Camp Jupiter; she'd come up with some kind of plan. This was not his area of expertise. "We've tried the campfire sing-along, we tried an archery tournament, the race didn't go well, either."

Reyna gave a shrug. "Tomorrow marks the third week we've been here and, while there's been fights, there've been no casualties. We could hold a feast to celebrate." She shifted from the seat she'd been half-sprawled over, sitting upright now. "No one, Roman or Greek, can turn down a feast."

"We'd have to clear it with Chiron and Mr. D," Percy pointed out.

"Lord Bacchus is the patron god of parties," Reyna countered. "Chiron, as I understand from my conversations with him, would be happy to approve something like this, if it were to help bind the camps together. Let me talk to Lord Bacchus while you talk to Chiron. I'm sure we can get approval."

"And if we don't?"

"If we don't, I say break the rules a bit and have the party anyways," Reyna smirked. "After all, this is for the sake of the camps and our families."

Percy knew, now from experience, that Reyna would do anything to protect her family, whoever was part of that family. She was a daughter of Bellona through and through; a fighter for what she considered home, be it a place or a person. He gave a nod and stood up. "I'll go track Chiron down and see what I can do."

With that, Percy left and headed in search of the centaur that ran the camp. Reyna stood and re-adjusted her orange camp shirt from where it had ridden up before heading off herself. She had a god to convince and, knowing Lord Bacchus, it wouldn't be easy, even if he was the god of parties – among other things. She did have at least one thing to her advantage, though.

The fight against the Greeks just a few weeks ago had ended when Gaea's own forces had entered the fray, forcing the two warring sides to work together. In that battle, Reyna had saved the life of one of Bacchus' Greek children, the one named Pollux. The boy had been cornered by a trio of monsters that Reyna hadn't been able to identify at the time. She'd swooped down with Scipio and helped the boy out, pulling him onto her pegasus' back. The two of them had worked together to take out the monsters, then rallied another group of demigods against one of the minor giants that was attacking.

Having saved Pollux's life, Bacchus – presenting himself as Dionysus – had spoken to Reyna, offering her a rare show of gratitude. He hadn't come out and said it, but the god had implied that Pollux was his only remaining child on the Greek side and that, by saving him, Reyna had gained favor in his eyes.

She'd certainly gained favor in Pollux's eyes, that was for sure. The son of Dionysus was clearly fond of her, both impressed by her skills and just a little intimidated by her reputation. He claimed a debt to her for saving his life and, while asking him to help her convince his father to approve the party was a small favor, she didn't think he'd turn it down. Though he might also claim it wouldn't cover his debt.

She found him at the strawberry fields, using his power over the vines to help some late blossoms bud. "Pollux, may I speak with you?"

Pollux turned, confused at first – because people rarely came to talk to him, many of them thinking that he was much like his father and didn't like other people – but when he saw it was Reyna, the boy gave a smile. "Hello, Miss Praetor," he said. "Speak your mind."

Reyna told Pollux the plan she and Percy had come up with. Pollux was one of the few she knew that actually wanted to get along with the Romans and refused to take part in the fights between the two groups. From what she'd heard from Dakota, Pollux was friendly, enthusiastic, and generally a good guy, so she had high hopes that he would be willing to help in the plan.

She was not disappointed. "Sure!" Pollux grinned. "Dad's not going to say no, as long as we keep things under control."

Reyna couldn't help a smile of her own. "You've never been to a Roman feast, have you?"

"Nope." Pollux gave a shake of his head, still grinning. "Let's go find my dad. He's probably playing pinocle with the satyrs. If he's winning, he'll be in a good mood for asking." He boldly reached for Reyna's hand to lead her to where he had no doubts his father would be. "This way."

Back in Camp Jupiter, no one would have been so bold as to grab Reyna by the hand. Even at Camp Half-Blood, most people wouldn't dare, considering Reyna's status as a camp leader, a praetor. The only ones who did were Hazel, Percy, and now Pollux. Even Jason didn't dare treat her as just a normal girl, a friend. She suspected it was because of Jason's girlfriend, but didn't voice this thought; if Piper wanted Jason all to herself, she could have him, as far as Reyna was concerned.

She had better things to think about than fighting over a boy.

* * *

Word got out fast. By the time dinner rolled around, everyone knew that Chiron and Dionysus had approved the party and they were all looking forward to it. By bedtime, it was all anyone talked about. Reyna had been right; no one, Greek or Roman, was going to turn down a party and feast.

Friday was spent in anticipation as always, though most everyone was focused on the feast that was promised for dinner that night. The Ares cabin still focused more on the Capture the Flag game to follow, but even they looked forward to the feast. Octavian's attempt to rally the troops for the game faltered and eventually fell flat because no one was paying attention to his plans anymore; in a camp full of mostly teenagers, food overtook precedence over most other things.

By the time the feast actually started, it was hard to imagine anyone in the camp fighting over anything at all, except for the last drumstick on the plate. With food piled high, drink replenished frequently, music, and chatter, the feast was by all means a celebration and it was in full swing. Dionysus had, a bit exasperatedly, allowed the campers to mingle and swap tables - "Just this once, mind you!" - which let everyone really get to know each other.

Reyna sat at the Poseidon table with Percy, Hazel, Nico, Jason, and Piper. Her seat was as far from Jason and Piper as she could manage without being apart from the group. Percy sat across from her and, over dinner, he grinned at her, making it clear that he was glad she'd made the suggestion of a feast. Reyna smiled back at him, glad they'd gone ahead with the suggestion.

"For once we might have actually made some progress," Piper spoke up from the other end of the table. "This is better than any tournament or race. People are actually sitting down and _talking _with each other."

"It worked last time, remember?" Hazel pointed out, her voice soft. "Up until the incident with the Eidolon, the feast at Camp Jupiter went fine, just like this."

"This time, we don't have any Eidolon to worry about," Reyna said. She lifted her cup and took a sip of her drink. "There's no warship over our heads, no war on the horizon. The only thing after this is the game that we've all agreed is part of the celebration; a friendly game among allies."

"Those have _always _gone well," Nico muttered, remembering the previous few games, as well as the match against the Hunters of Artemis that had been his first game.

"Don't be a spoilsport, di Angelo," Percy told his cousin. "There's nothing to worry about."

Never let it be said that the Fates didn't take up a challenge when they heard one. Before Percy could actually finish his sentence to take a bite of the brownie he'd grabbed from his plate, a wind picked up in the dining pavilion. Demigods and legacies alike looked around and soon caught sight of a figure hovering in the air by the head table, legs crooked beneath him with a pair of winged sandals holding him aloft. Hermes, after swiping the can of Diet Coke from his younger half-brother and taking a swig, greeting the campers heartily.

"Great feast, isn't it?" he asked, grinning widely. "It's nice to see everyone getting along! How is everyone?"

Stunned silence answered him. It wasn't normal for a god, besides Dionysus, to just appear at Camp Half-Blood, anymore than it was normal at Camp Jupiter. For Hermes to show up like this, there had to be something going on and it made a lot of the campers apprehensive. It especially made those at Percy's table nervous; things had been going so well until now.

"Before you all get so anxious, I'm not here to be the bearer of bad news," Hermes told the assembly, giving them all a rather put-out look. He crossed his arms over his chest and it almost looked like the god was pouting. Only a smack to his calf from Dionysus got the messenger god back on track. Hermes cleared his throat and looked to the demigods in the dining pavilion. "Those of us on Olympus commend you for the last three weeks of cooperation. We believe that, after thousands of years, the two sides of our family may finally see true reconciliation."

Percy and Reyna exchanged glances, then looked among their friends at the table with him. A silent question hung in the air between the small group: so why was Hermes there? It couldn't be a simple 'Congratulations! You're finally getting along!' message from the gods. Something was up.

"It's been decided, though," Hermes continued, "that you need a bit of a helping hand. In tradition with ancient times, we've decided that a marriage between the Greeks and the Romans is in order."

_That _got attention, of all sorts. There were shouts of protest, shock, questions of the legality of such a marriage, and, above all, the Aphrodite kids and their one Venus-born sister, were screeching their excitement – marriage, even one decreed by the gods, was something they were all excited for. With the exception of Piper, who was cringing at the decibel of her siblings' screams.

Hermes raised his hands for everyone to settle down. "No decision has been made on who the marriage will be between," he explained. "All demigods and legacies of at least sixteen years of age are eligible for this arrangement, unless, of course, they're a Huntress."

There was a mutter from the Hermes table, one of the older girls making a promise to join the Hunters immediately if she was chosen for this marriage. Hermes merely smirked and continued his announcement. He pulled a teddy bear out from apparently no where and tossed it to where Octavian was sitting amongst his Greek relatives.

"Our decision will be made tomorrow morning," he informed the augur. "You know what to do."

Octavian caught the teddy bear, ignoring the looks from the Greek children of Apollo; he knew they weren't huge fans of his methods, but he was a Roman and his methods were the Roman way. The barest smirk was on his lips. This was an interesting turn of events.

Hermes arched a brow at the augur, a subtle reminder that Octavian himself was actually eligible, being seventeen years old. Octavian shrank back a little, but managed to keep his movement small enough that most people wouldn't notice. Hermes gave a nod and dusted his hands off.

"Well, I've done my job!" he declared. "I have errands to run and _you've _got a game to get to!"

Hermes flew off at a quick speed, waiting until there was a good distance between him and the dining pavilion before disappearing in a flash of godly light. Once he was gone, the campers burst into a loud discussion.

A _marriage_? It was _insane_!

Piper voiced it at the table with the others. "They can't do this! What if the ones they choose don't _want _to be married?"

"Do you really think that matters?" Nico asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Thetis didn't want to marry Peleus. Aphrodite didn't want to marry Hephaestus. Persephone didn't want to marry my father."

"Marriages like this aren't out of the norm," Reyna pointed out. "This is a political marriage, for the good of the two sides involved. It's not uncommon in New Rome."

"This _isn't _New Rome!" Piper countered. A part of her was outraged that Reyna would support this. "This _isn't _uncommon here! The gods can't just decide that two of us are going to marry 'for the good of the two sides involved'! That takes away the choice of whoever has to get married!"

"It might not," Jason cut in. He took Piper's hand to try to get her to calm down. "Marriages like this don't always go through. Whoever's chosen will have the choice to accept or deny the marriage. There's a time frame for that choice to be made, usually."

"A month," Reyna added. "Usually." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned forward, propping her arms on the table in front of her, where she'd pushed her plate aside at Hermes' arrival. "The chosen bride and groom have a month to publicly acknowledge and accept the match. That's _if _this is going to be done the traditional way."

Admittedly, Reyna was a little apprehensive about this decree. The gods would choose carefully; there was no way they'd pick a match that would deny the marriage at the end of the given month. If this marriage was to unite the two camps, surely the gods would pick one Roman and one Greek who would go along with their scheme in the end.

Knowing the few who got along, Reyna had the sinking feeling that she was going to be watching Jason marry Piper. As much as she tried to consider Jason's feelings, as much as she tried to acknowledge that he'd chosen Piper, Reyna still felt pained that her love for the son of Jupiter wasn't returned. She didn't think she could watch that marriage. It would be far too painful.

Reyna stood from her place at the table and excused herself. She didn't want to be there right now, not with those thoughts in her mind, not when Jason was talking to Piper about the traditions of arranged marriages in New Rome. She didn't even want to take part in the Capture the Flag game that everyone would be going to shortly to try to get over the shock of Hermes' announcement.

Right now, she just wanted to be alone. She left the dining pavilion and headed for the cabins. When the Roman representatives had come to Camp Half-Blood, many of them had just been sorted into the cabin that represented their godly parent's Greek form. In Octavian's case, he'd been offered a bed in the Apollo cabin, being a descendant of the sun god. Geordi, a second-generation Ceres legacy, stayed with his aunts and uncles in Demeter's cabin.

Reyna, her mother being fully Roman with no Greek counterpart, had her choice between the semi-crowded Hermes cabin, the rowdy Ares cabin, or the Athena cabin, on Annabeth's invitation. She'd ultimately chosen to stay with the Athena kids, enticed by the library cabin six had to offer. As she entered the cabin, Reyna went over to the shelves of books and pulled down a couple to act as a distraction from the current events.

When the others returned from the game, Malcolm – head counselor of the cabin while Annabeth was at Camp Jupiter – signaled for his siblings to be quiet as they got ready for bed. He came over and gently pulled the book that Reyna had fallen asleep over from under her cheek and covered her with a blanket.

The next morning, everyone was more than a little shocked to see the Greek delegates who had been at Camp Jupiter sitting at the dining pavilion for breakfast. As Annabeth explained to Reyna, Hermes had shown up at dinner in his Roman form, a few hours after his announcement at Camp Half-Blood because of timezones, and made the same speech to the Roman camp as he'd made to the Greek camp. Everyone had gone to bed after the weekly game, just as they had at Camp Half-Blood.

All the Greek representatives were still in their pajamas, having been taken from their beds in the various cohorts they were sorted into for their stay at the Roman camp and deposited in the dining pavilion. None of them were quite sure how they'd gotten to Camp Half-Blood, but it was highly suspected that Hermes had something to do with it.

In any case, they were there. Annabeth was anxious to say hello to Percy, but dutifully remained at her cabin's table, since Dionysus was not budging about the seating arrangement as he had the previous night - "I told you brats, _just that once." _Reyna sat next to her, both of them sharing a sense of dread about the upcoming declaration from Octavian, though they each had different reasons.

"Do you think you'll be chosen?" Reyna asked the daughter of Athena.

"I don't want to be," Annabeth replied. "I know it's a possibility, but I don't want to be chosen." She didn't have to say why. They both knew the reason was Percy. "Do you want to be chosen?"

Reyna hesitated. "I don't know. It would be a honor to bring peace between our camps, but..." But she knew she'd have to give up a lot if she went through with it. "It's complicated."

Annabeth gave a nod. "Hopefully this ends well."

As the last demigods filed into the pavilion to take their seats, Octavian stood up, proudly toting the teddy bear Hermes had given him the previous night. His eligibility for this marriage be damned, he was going enjoy being the bearer of the news; he found it unlikely he'd be chosen and it would probably be some sucker that would be taken out of his way. At the head table, invited by Chiron to stand where everyone could see him, Octavian pulled out his ceremonial dagger and cut into the stuffed animal, laying its fluff across the still empty table.

Apprehension filled the air as Octavian leaned in close to the fluff, hands on the table's surface with his nose practically shoved into the pile of fluff. The sinking feeling that Reyna had felt the previous night returned with a vengeance, her stomach in knots as she glanced towards Jason, sitting alone at the table for his father. The son of Jupiter, though sitting upright and attentive, showed miniscule signs of anxiety that Reyna only spotted because she had known him so long; his lower lip was pulled slightly into his mouth on one side, Jason biting the flesh in his mouth.

Jason was nervous? Reyna was a little surprised by that; if anything, Jason should be the last person worried. The gods could easily pick him and Piper to be married, a match already made between the Romans and the Greeks. Why would he have reason to be nervous about that?

Reyna didn't get to dwell on the thought. Octavian chose that moment to stand upright, a smirk over his lips that told more than anything else that he was quite relieved and pleased with the decision the gods had made.

"The will of the gods is told!" the augur proclaimed. He hefted the fluffy entrails of the teddy bear into the air in one hand. "The match is decided!" His eyes swept over the crowd of demigods, seeing the attention purely on him. Even dryads and satyrs had come to the dining pavilion to hear the decision. "The ones to be wed, on whose shoulders the two camps rest - "

Reyna's stomach sank as Octavian set his gaze on her, his smirk a clear sign that he saw his opportunity in this telling. She held her ground though, refusing to let the legacy of Apollo see any weakness, any sign that she did not want this. She would not give him that pleasure, even as he finished his announcement:

" - are Reyna Laurentia, daughter of Bellona, and Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon!"

* * *

**chapter end notes: **Next chapter will have more dialogue; this one was mostly set up. I wanted to establish the plot and will focus more on the reactions next chapter. Also, it should be fairly obvious that Laurentia is just my chosen surname for Reyna (it's in honor of the woman who adopted Romulus and Remus in Roman mythology). Once Riordan gives us her official surname, I will be changing it.


End file.
